So my GF bought a pre-paid vacation to Florida

[Ladogaboy]

Well, the title pretty much says it all. She just hit me with this today, and I was going to ask you guys for input.

She has already bought the vacation package and cannot get a refund. She can, however, sell the package if someone were willing to buy it.

Anyway, it is for 4 people, for 9 days. I don't know the exact itinerary, but some of the vacation will be spent in Orlando, Daytona, and a cruise to the Bahamas...

If we go, it will be her sister, sister's boyfriend, her and me...

The only draw back is that we still have to pay for airfare, about $15 a day (some sort of service tax), and food.

Any opinions, ideas, what not?

[sho.gun]

whoa, GO!!!

Man, I'd give anything to spend time at some far off place with someone I love...

sigh... speaking of love, why must it be so damn complicated at times. Why are we making the simplest thing ever so hard to understand?

:(

but yeah ladoga, I'd go if I were you... we don't have that much time here anyway, might as well enjoy it.

[sho.gun]

I wish someone could pop out of nowhere and say, hey... i got us a weeklong trip to alaska, wanna go?


why am i replying to this again...

[sho.gun]

You know... IF i get married one day, or I find that perfect girl, I want to take her to Australia. Then maybe alaska. Oh man, that's what i want to do for honeymoon, cruise to alaska... Imagine that, 7 days no wait, lets go 14 cuz i'll be filthy rich. 14 days of heaven on earth with someone you love more than life itself. Oh man...




Oh man...

[jujubees]

I think sho.gun is trying to tell you that you should go. :D

What would hold you back from going? If finances are good, I'd say GO and offer to cover her portion of the service tax & food, since she paid for the rest. If your relationship involves different money splittage schematics, then pay the way you usually would.

If finances aren't good, then have her sell them, but don't forget about the nice gesture and surprise her with a Bahamas trip at a later date, when you do have the dough.

[tweeteresa]

awww such a romantic sho! :angel:

anywyz...yea u should definitly go. how many chances do u getta spend time with that special someone in a great place? why are u holding back btw?

[mojo]

why wouldn't you go? i missed that part i guess. something about airfare...food...i dunno. was the vacation a good deal n stuff besides that? i mean, i guess if you got bilked for that, then you're done unless you can sucker someone else into the deal...in which case, don't you have a conscience, man? :P

anyhow, ya...i dont see why you wouldn't go is the thing i guess.


and sho....love someone more than life itself? c'mon now. isn't that...well...not good?

[Apex]

Find out as soon as you can what company she bought the vacation from. There are a few huge scams for Orlando, Daytona, and an optional Bahamas cruise.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/specialt.htm

[MJordanash]

I'd go on the trip if I were you.

[welfareloser]

is this one of those "omg, you SPENT MONEY" kinda things?

anyway, i don't know what your relationship is like, but it maybe wasn't right of her to basically buy you a vacation and then put you on the spot where you look like a schmuck if you turn it down. if there is some issue that you're having with either the frivolous expenditure of money or the fact that you weren't consulted (i mean, what if you're too busy, or can't afford even the airfare, etc), simply explain to her what's bothering you, AND MAKE THAT DISCUSSION INDEPENDENT OF THE DECISION TO GO. there's nothing more worthless than a butthead that tries to make his or her point by "punishing" the other person by not going on the stupid vacation. have the discussion, get the issue resolved, and enjoy yourselves.

maybe none of this is the issue at hand, but the way you said "she hit me with it" kinda sounded like you were resentful of it for some reason, so i'm taking some guesses...

[OC]

Originally posted by welfareloser
SNIP:stupid:

[whitak24]

i'm not sure, but it sounds like lagoda is partially worried about if there's some kind of catch or if he's about to get scammed.

or maybe he doesn't like having major trips planned for him without any of his own input. i could see being a little annoyed by that. not that it would be enough to make me decide not to go.... :P

ok, so when it comes down to it, i'm not sure that i really have any intelligent contributions.... :hmm:

[aglio412]

well, my gf and i did the same thing, through a company called vacation station...they have been horrendous to deal with. we're still going on the trip, scrapped the bahamas cruise portion b/c of the port fees, but we're still gonna drive to FL for a few days. i'll post on our experiences. if it's anything like what we went through on the phone with them...<sarcasm>it's gonna be fantastic</sarcasm>

[Burzhui]

damn i'd go

[NuTs62]

Hey, if you are hesitant bout goin, I'm sure many of us wouldn't mind taking your place, and going with your girlfriend there :naughty:

[UnReAL]

florida sucks... plus it is hot as all hell out there

[goyo2]

I say go, **** some times its been months since I've left the city, go have some fun, drink some brews, blow some money and relax, I'm only 30 and I'm already starting to think a cruise would be pretty fun just because all you do is lay around and eat, no driving, parking or cooking. If I were you, I'd go out and buy your girlfriend something really cool that she can take on the trip, like a new pair of shades she's been looking at, write a note about how lucky you are to have a relationship with such a spontaneous person and stick it in the presant... then I'd wait for her to get home, tell her that you're sorry, but you don't think you can get the time off, I mean really play it up, then tell her you found the shades or whatever, give her a big hug and kiss and start talking about how much fun you'll have. Forget about it, you'll find the money and it'll be worht it.

[Ladogaboy]

Okay, first things first...


Originally posted by cpugeek04
post her pic. then we'll decide. :D

:bonk:


Originally posted by NuTs62 Hey, if you are hesitant bout goin, I'm sure many of us wouldn't mind taking your place, and going with your girlfriend there

:bash: :boxing:

Okay, well, here were my real concerns:

1) When I said that she hit me with this, it had more to do with it being out of the blue. Her spontaneity surprised me, but there was nothing more to it.

2) The link that Apex posted--thanks--addresses part of my concerns. I want to make sure that we aren't being scammed in anyway.

3) My other concers are mainly financial and logistical. Right now, I am working at a job with out a set (or paid) vacation, so me taking off from work could cause a few problems. Also, I am currently paying off a lot of student loans, so the airfare alone could cause some problems financially.
While these are concerns, they are very small. The way she set up the vacation plans, the dates and times are very open. We have well over a year to work out the details, so time should take care of most of the worries I have in this department.

As far as the rest of the input goes, I am more interested in your opinions/experiences with these types of vacations and Florida in general: times to go; what to expect; things to see.

I have no reservations against going with her, and if I am financially able, I will pay for her airfare and service tax. Money has never really played any sort of role in our relationship before, and it probably won't in the future either.

Anyway, thanks for all of the advice!

[Speedfreak]

Originally posted by sho.gun
Then maybe alaska. Oh man, that's what i want to do for honeymoon, cruise to alaska... Imagine that, 7 days no wait, lets go 14 cuz i'll be filthy rich. 14 days of heaven on earth with someone you love more than life itself. Oh man...

My parents are planning an Alaska Cruise (I think for 2 weeks). I think they will go with Princess.

They have been on 3 cruises and are hooked. They have done a 3-day Ensenada, a 14-day Hawaii (actually was a 3 week vacation because they flew over a week before they got on the ship), and a 4-day Catalina/Ensenada (the one our whole family just went on) all on Carnival, all on a different ship.

fun stuff.

[mojo]

Originally posted by whitak24
or maybe he doesn't like having major trips planned for him without any of his own input. i could see being a little annoyed by that. not that it would be enough to make me decide not to go.... :P

ok, so when it comes down to it, i'm not sure that i really have any intelligent contributions.... :hmm: come to think about it...my ex wife used to ride me to no end (not the good way) about going on vacation. it never dawned on me that:

*gasp* she could actually buy the vacation and tell me about it when she was done :idea: :eek:

realistically speaking it woulda worked, seeing as how i lagged in that area.

think of all the heartache and such that could have been avoided if she had taken initiative. sure, it woulda been a small thing if she did it without my go-ahead. but i woulda gotten over that pretty fast. who can get mad at someone that's essentially saying "i want to spend time with you"?

[aglio412]

ladoga-i PM'd you, drop me an email, i think we got the same 'deal' i'll answer any specifics you need.

[goyo2]

Go for it!!!!

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by DarkFury

Would you rather be out on the "frozen tundra" in the middle of winter...?

Hey, DF, when does hurricane season run?